Xiaomi Mi 6 – Top 5 Things you Need to Know About the Phone

Xiaomi has made its name out selling cheap phones that come packed with high-end specs to match the likes of Samsung Galaxy S and Note series.

Last year it was the Xiaomi Mi 5 and this year it’s the turn of the Xiaomi Mi 6. As you can expect, the latter has basically picked up from where the former left off. The Mi 5 shipped with the same hardware specs and features as the Galaxy S7 and so does the Mi 6 with respect to the Galaxy S8, however, you might be surprised at what you have to find out about the phone. Read on.

For one thing, there’s truly plenty to relish about owning a Xiaomi Mi 6. Whether it’s a battery-saving Full HD resolution, the powerful Snapdragon 835, the dual-lens cameras or even the massive battery capacity. But you’ll love this phone even more when it comes to the pricing aspect, which is actually half that of the Galaxy S8 and S8+. To get to the details, here are the top 5 things you need to know about the Mi 6.

The phone has a 1080p resolution

For years, Samsung has been releasing flagship phones with a QHD resolution, but quite a number of major names in the smartphone industry, including Apple, OnePlus and Xiaomi, have stuck to full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels). The story is the same with the Xiaomi Mi 6, shipping with a 5.15-inch 1080p display screen with a pixel density of 428ppi.

Being an LCD panel, you’ll enjoy the brightness levels. The color accuracy is also great and to make it better, Xiaomi has added the ability to protect your eyes against the light rays emitted from the screen – rays that are thought to have negative effects towards ability to sleep. The screen also comes with a feature known as Sunlight Display. This is one helps the display get a better contrast so as to make it more readable when outside.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 835

When Sony Xperia XZ Premium was announced at the MWC 2017, it became the first handset to be confirmed to come powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835. But when Samsung released the Galaxy S8 last month, it effectively became the first phone to hit shelves powered by the most powerful smartphone processor so far. Well, now that the Xiaomi Mi 6 is here, it joins early adopters of the Snapdragon 835 SoC that features eight Kryo 280 CPU, with four clocked at 2.45GHz and the other four at 1.9GHz.

Dual-lens camera

Besides shipping with the most powerful processor, the Xiaomi Mi 6 also brings a pair of lenses on the back, mimicking the iPhone 7 Plus and other dual-lens phones in the market. There are two 12MP lenses, one with an f/1.8 aperture and the second with an f/2.6 aperture. This second sensor works as a telephoto lens, allowing users to enjoy 2X lossless zoom thanks the SD835 prowess.

The main camera also comes with support for PDAF, 4-axis OIS and dual-tone LED flash that promise excellent shots when in low-light conditions. The Camera app also comes with loads of features to enhance the shots and for the front part, you get an 8MP shooter.

6GB RAM and 128GB storage

Like the Galaxy S8+, Xiaomi Mi 6 ships with a RAM of 6GB and a storage of 128GB, but you don’t get to expand this storage further than this. This variant might be hard to come by, but the base model is still great at 6GB RAM with 64GB storage.

Where the entry-level variant is priced at an amazing $360, the high-end variant comes in at $420. There’s a ceramic-back variant that costs about $435. Note that the Mi 6 has only been confirmed for the Chinese market, but you can grab one from resellers such as Geekbuying or GearBest.

Missing 3.5mm audio jack

Like the HTC U Ultra and Moto Z, the Xiaomi Mi 6 has no room for the traditional 3.5mm audio jack, instead, you’ll have to use the USB-C port for the same purpose. This might be a problem for some, but there are definitely those who have already adapted to this change, especially now that there are lots of wireless headphones in the market.

Bonus: It comes with Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box

Xiaomi Mi 6 comes preinstalled with the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. As usual, there’s the company’s MIUI 8 skin running on top of the stock Android OS. This is great from the Chinese OEM, especially when looking at its not-so-good record track when it comes to software updates. Still, there have been positive signs lately, an indicator that the Mi 6 could be a regular when it comes to receiving updates.